Does Your Personal Development Compliment Your Professional Development?

Why your personal and professional development must go hand in hand

Are you failing to hit the mark in your professional life right now? Maybe it feels like despite your best intentions things are just not clicking for you.

Well this could be a sign that your personal development has come to a standstill and you’ve got some homework to do.

Many of us work hard at developing a particular area of our lives. The results are by no means instant and we constantly face challenges, but press through, assured that if we just keep going-just keep working it, we will succeed. However in our tunnel vision, it is easy to become unbalanced in our approach to personal and professional development. I’ll try and explain why

I’m going to assume that all reading here have passion driven goals for your future. Grandiose plans for success in business, or ambitions to up your pay grade and status on your job. Maybe you even dream of becoming head of the board someday?

Where your career plans are focused right now, is not the point. This may sound quite harsh, but as an avid observer, I’ve noticed that it’s of no consequence what area of commerce or business any individual succeeds in, they all seem to have common traits. So it doesn’t really matter what you do, what matters is – who you are and how you live.

High achievers take a disciplined, strategic approach to being successful in business, this way of being, is also something you see replicated in their personal life. It’s not a fluke. They are not staunch time keepers for professional meetings, but slack and always late when meeting friends. They are not well dressed and groomed for a day in the office, but sloppy and messy in their own time. The personal behaviours and habits they have used to cultivate career success, are simply an extension of the way they live their personal lives. They are living authentically…..

Am I making sense here ?

Let me give you some examples of how your personal habits and behaviours can either support or negatively affect your professional development

Examples:

# The woman who rises early Vs the woman who rises late

The woman who rises early realises that time is precious, she wants to maximise her day. The woman who rises late, has a far more casual approach to time, as such she regularly wastes lots of it

# The woman who is always late Vs the woman who is always on time

The woman who is always on time appreciates that time is a precious commodity, and doesn’t like to waste yours or their own. The woman who is always late, places no real value on her time, therefore rarely organises it and wastes yours

# The woman who pays attention to detail Vs The woman who is careless

The woman who pays attention to detail notices mistakes, but also great opportunity and she has high standards. The woman who is careless, is not concerned with details or diligence and as such makes daily mistakes, and is rarely asked to take charge of anything

# The woman who controls what she says Vs the woman who speaks without thinking

The woman who controls what she says, understands the dynamics of people and appreciates that a soft word can often change a situation. The woman who speaks without thinking, has low diplomacy skills, is a poor negotiator and she finds it difficult to maintain good relationships with others

I hope I’ve given you enough examples to confirm how the behaviours that you adopt and display in your personal life, directly affect your professional life. People don’t make their judgements and decisions based solely on what you say, anyone can talk a good talk. They also make their decisions, based on who you are and the way you behave

Which of these women would YOU choose as a partner in life or in business ?

Which of those women are you?

Are you the friend who is always running late and always the last into a business meeting? Are you always the first person to voice your displeasure at the risk of another’s feelings. Are you the woman who is self-employed, but sleeps half of the day?

It’s time to do a careful evaluation of YOU, because everything starts with the self. Whilst it’s possible to achieve in business and epically fail at life. I don’t think this is the plan anyone of us here envisions for our future. Your after a life-less-ordinary- right!

So if you are not seeing the improvements in your professional life that you would like. If you’ve been stagnant or drifting for a while. Sometimes you have to get right back to basics and challenge and improve your everyday behaviours

What are the areas you’re challenged with?

Is it building relationships, managing money, or being on time ?

Your first job is to work on correcting those areas of misalignment in your life. Once these new behaviour’s start showing up in your personal life, in the things closest to you, the things that really matter and you see the results. You will begin to naturally replicate these behaviours in your business life.

Why! Because you know they work

Personal and professional development are not two separate entities, they have a symbiotic relationship. They work holistically, just like you do!

Sometimes the difference between coasting and flying in life or business, is simply a matter of a few life tweaks. The important thing to remember is any development has to start with the self. It’s all good and well to fake it, until you make it – for something’s, but sometimes you have to BE it!

Come and share in the comments how your personal and professional development work hand in hand…or maybe why they don’t!!!

If you have found this article useful or enjoyable, I’d be really happy if you shared the value with others. Want to connect with me personally? You can find me here

Hi Stan, your totally right. We must all be passionate about what we do, and the way we live life, both on and off the job. But sometimes we need to stop for a second and evaluate what we are doing, and see if there are things we could be improving.

Hey Stacey,
Yes! Here is my take on this. Whatever traits you exhibited in your personal life are also manifested in your professional life. It’s learned behavior. So you don’t want to practice any form of negativity or incompetence in your personal life because it will also be reflected in your professional life. When I see kids in summer jobs or part time after school jobs goofing off and not giving a damn, I tell they are learning how to be unsuccessful in all aspects of life and the best they can hope for is some form of mediocrity. They are practicing to fail.
RileyRiley Harrison recently posted..GOAL SETTING THAT WORKS part 7

Hi Riley I guess we were all guilty of goofing off and acting the fool on some of our early jobs, especially the ones that we had no intention of doing long term

.But you make a good point about learned behaviour being a huge part of how we all operate. You really took me back to my childhood jobs, in retail and other sales, I was always busy being a smart ass rebellious (mainly out of boredom) rather than just knuckling down to the task at hand…I was practising to fail…

It’s amazing what becomes illuminated to us as we grow up…thanks for your insightful points

The woman who is always on time appreciates that time is a precious commodity, and doesn’t like to waste yours or their own. The woman who is always late, places no real value on her time, therefore rarely organises it and wastes yours”

Can you tell which Agreement I mean?
If you haven’t read the book — it’s “Be impeccable with your word.” A great motto. If you say you’ll be there at 4:30PM, be there at 4:30PM.

Which one of these women am I? Can I at least be the pretty one (and I’m not going to shave my legs)?

In business and in life I deal with both types and I think your assessment of who the achievers are and aren’t is pretty accurate. However, it is also easy to get too obsessive with it; being so driven it affects other parts of your life.

I definitely think you need to be purpose driven and have a sense of excitement and passion in whatever you do. If you have this in business and in life it should keep you moving in the right direction.

Bill you can be which ever woman you like, lol. Have you read the book, it sounds interesting?
I agree with your point that it’s easy to become a little obsessive with it. I guess my point in the spectrum is I have been a little of both. Lackadaisical and obsessively driven. I guess I’m trying to find a comfortable balance now. It’s not always easy, sometimes you have to fight your nature nature.

About Me

I’m Stacey, the thinker, schemer, detail driven dream chaser -behind this blog.
If you’re in search of a life-less-ordinary you’re in the right place. I share on personal development, wellbeing, lifestyle design & more. Read more about this site & feel free to comment, share & connect.